"CHRISTMAS" letters skinny book mingle

This is my first skinny book and I am loving the dimensions (3 x 6). We were to make 9 skinny pages, with each containing one letter of "CHRISTMAS." The hostess will then swap them back out to us and we can bind them as we wish. I knew immediately the background papers I wanted to use from my new DCWV Christmas stack. I just wasn't sure of the image. After several trial and errors I found this great Santa Jumping Jack Puppet pattern.

So, here's the how-to on my pages:

• I cut the bases from cereal boxes and adhered the papers to the front and edged them with Stazon ink pads.
• On the back I used glue lines on the edge to stick down the vintage trim.
  
• I then adhered the slightly smaller papers to the back, stamped some black swirls and added the "be merry" greeting.
  
• After printing and cutting out the Santa puppets I ran them through the Xyron sticker maker. I can't imagine what I would do without that little guy!!
  
• I assembled the puppets and added them to the front.
  
• I also added some glitter shapes for some sparkle.
  
• The letters were cut using my Alphalicious Cart.
• Before stacking the letters I ran the top stack back through the Xyron so the tops were adhesive as well. I them applied coordinating glitter.
  
• Then the letters were adhered to the pages.
  
  

I must confess I am very happy with how they turned out. :)

L@@KIE what came to live at my house.....

.....my sweetie pie hubby bought this for me last week!! Woo Hoo!! Isn't she lovely....such a nice shade of pink. She is a Bind-it-all by Zutter/. I am over the moon excited. I can't wait to play more with her. I did bind a mini 4 inch Halloween Blank book to play with. I wanted to learn how to do it. :)

Now with my new Cricut Expression and my Bind-it-all I can't wait to see what ART I can make. I see tons of potential for my Etsy Shop and for Christmas gifts this year. Anywho.....that's my news for today.

I have been immersed in the studio working on some new projects to share. Hopefully I'll be able to do that by this weekend. :::smiles::: I'm wanting to get some more inventory in my shop for the upcoming Holiday Season. Let's just say, you could call me the "Bag Lady" this week!! More later......don't just sit there...go ART on something!! LOL

L@@kie What me & my Cricut made today....

...we made a custom mailbox vinyl address decal. Isn't it cool?? I knew I wanted ivory vinyl and remarkably found some at Walmart (Who knew....miracles do happen). One of our neighbors has something similar and we have been wanting one since we moved. So, thanks to my Cricut, we now have a custom mailbox. Maybe now we can stop getting the neighbor's mail!! :::Sigh::: Hubs even added more mulch and trimmed the yellow knockout roses for my picture. I'll have to take another sometime when they are blooming. Anywho...here are some before and after pics. If you are interested in one of your own, feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to shoot you a price and make one up for you. I think they would make a great house warming gift!! :)

Some new ART....

I have some new ART to share that are for August swaps. :::smiles:::

First up is an ATC with the theme "lady". I used one of my fave images on vellum, backed with a vintage dictionary page.

Second swap item was a tag, themed "Anything goes." I used some paper from the new DCWV Paper stack, "The Green Stack" http://www.diecutswithaview.com/new.php?id=288 and a skeleton leaf and copper embellishments.

Finally, I was to make a row house. I cut the basic shapes with my Cricut using the Wild Card cartridge and embellished from there. I am happy with how it turned out. It is larger than it appears, coming in at around 5 x 10. Anywho....just sharing!! :)

More Cricut ART cards....

....I'm really liking this Life's a Beach cartridge. I needed some congratulation cards for the winners of my BLOGversary. So, this afternoon I whipped these puppies out and made them some matching envies. I really like how dragging an ink pad DTP (Direct to Paper) across them, makes the details "pop." :) Anywho....just sharing.....
I made 12 cards and 12 matching envies, so I have 6 notecards ready for another use. :)

New ART....COTM

....using the Cricut. He and I are beginning to become friends now. We have a ways to go, but there is hope. This is a COTM (Card of the Month) I made for a friend in Georgia. It took me some time, but I finally figured out what I wanted to achieve. :)

I made it using the Life's a Beach cartridge (which is by far my fave). I just cut the same image in similar sizes and layered them. I like how it's open to the inside. The stamps are the $1 clear ones from Micheal's.

The envie is made from scrapbook paper and more of the same stamps. Enjoy


Anyone who knows me, knows that the Beach is my fave place to be.....so it's not surprising that seems to be a recurring theme in my ART.

4 x 4 ART pages Finished......

.....but it was definitely quite an endeavor!! Geesh!! Has anyone seen my brain....it has certainly left my body. Some days you just forget to stop and think things through....you know?? This was my first time making 4 x 4's. I knew I was to leave a left hand border of about 3/4" for binding. Yep, planned out the design, laid it out, left that nice border on the left hand margin on the front pages......flipped them over to do the back side ....and....well....I left the margin on the LEFT side again!! My darling hubby, looking at the FINISHED pages says: "Aren't you going to lose all these details when it's bound??" Argh!! "Well, yes, yes I am," I say while collapsing in a full swoon onto the sofa. Gee whiz Forest....stupid is as stupid does..... :::sigh:::

So, I redid my design, which actually works better in a weird "I didn't plan it out but now I like it" sort of way. I just have to remember to tell my hostess that what looks to be the front is really now the back. LOL

Anywho, here are the nitty gritty details. Theme: Under lock and key Quantity: 38

Of course I had to make something with pirates......they keep their treasures under lock and key! Well and sometimes their hearts....but let's just not go there shall we??

Please see my previous blog post if you want to know how I made the Cricut cut outs really "pop". Don't forget to click the pics so you can see all that sparkly treasure!! :)

I started with blue cardstocks. Side 1 was rubber stamped with a multi-blues ink pad and a large bubles background stamp. All shapes were cut from the "Life's a beach" Cricut cartridge. All pages were sealed with glossy Mod Podge.

Side 2 was water colored using my fave Peerless Watercolors. The treasure is made from Diamond glaze, tiny faceted jewels, gold rocaille beads and gold fine art glitter. The "treasure trail" is done with a black sharpie......I believe that Black Sharpies are to the ART world what Duct Tape is for the household.

So there you have it, my screwed up but now fixed 4 x 4 ART pages. :)

Preview of my 4 x 4 ART pages "Under Lock & Key"

I am working on a BIG little project. I am swapping 4 x 4's with 37 other ARTists that are being bound into a book. The theme is "Under Lock & Key". I have finally come up with my idea.....and am steadily making progress.

I decided to use my new "Life's a Beach" Cricut cartridge for the main components. So, I set about cutting all the tiny pieces times 38. After they were all cut out they were cool, but lacking. The Cricut cuts all these awesome shapes with great details that you can't really see. Hmmmm......they are very lifeless and flat. So I set about enhancing them. The background blue cardstock and the treasure chests were livened up with coats of watercolors. I used my very fave Peerless watercolors. www.peerlesscolor.com To bring out all the highlights of the sea shells, sun, sand dollars, treasure chests, skull and crossbones, palm trees.....I used similar colored ink pads and lightly swiped them across the cut outs. Wow!! The details just exploded off the page. Ta-da!! I am a happy camper now. To give dimension to the eye patch, skull cap and red"X"'s, and the coconuts, I used coordinating Sakura Glaze pens. www.sakuraofamerica.com/Pen-3d-pen I made the "sand" with some of DH's sandpaper!! Shhh!! :)

I'm sharing a few of the pieces today to show you the difference. Hopefully tomorrow I can share the completed pages.......side one is drying with a top coat of Mod Podge. Stay tuned......

Plain Cricut cutouts

Embellished Cricut cutouts

Plain treasure chest

Wow....what a difference
Peerless watercolors, Gold gel Pen, Black glaze pen (on lock)

Boring Palm Tree

Dimensional cool palm

No faced sun, invisible detailed sand dollar, flat skull

Sunny face, awesome sand dollar and dimensional skull

Plain blue cardstock

Gorgeous backgrounds from the Sea

Left - Peerless Watercolors

Right - blue ink pad, bubble background rubber stamp

Holy Cow - Has it really been 9 days.....

....since my last post?? Wowzers. Hard to believe. I have been busy making ART and guess I forgot to come up for air!! :)


I have a big list of swap commitments, plus Etsy offerings among others. And then I got my new Cricut, 3 new cartridges and have now downloaded inkscape and design studio. I only need SCAL and then I must go underground and learn how to use all these nifty gadgets. Whew!! Too much fun. I promised myself no play time until I started listing on Etsy again. So, that being said I have listed an assortment of my yummy handmade papers. Each sheet is hand pulled by yours truly and measures 8 1/2 x 11. I have sets ranging from 5 sheets up to 30 sheets. Please stop by my shop and check them out. http://www.shellyraewood.etsy.com/

Here are a few to give you a peek. I LOVE pulling paper....recycling and making ART at the same time. The sheets are great for card making, tags, scrapbook pages, envelopes, punched shapes.....the list is endless. If you'd like different quantities, special colors, other sizes.....shoot me an email @ shellyraewood@aol.com or convo me on Etsy. More ART and more listings to come.....probably tomorrow.

Altered composition books

I am needing a journal for an upcoming swap. I grabbed a composition book at the store. While I was there I found mini composition books too, in a 3 pack. I played with them the other night. I also was to make a card with the theme "glitter". Well, my brilliant design turned out lovely, except that instead of a card it is an 8 x 10 frameable. :::Smiles::: Please click the pics if you wish to see the details!!

Journal Cover

Inside front cover

Inside back cover

Back Cover

"Celebrate the gift of today"

Mini book #1

Mini book #2

Mini book #3

Glitter frameable - 8 x 10
Roses made using my cricut

Wild Card Cartridge

The vase is cut from glossy white paper